


Rain On His Parade

by Nicxan



Category: Ghost (Sweden Band)
Genre: M/M, Mentor/Protégé, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-21
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-18 21:07:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29615427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nicxan/pseuds/Nicxan
Summary: Rain is training his understudy and has been for some months. His protégé, Dewdrop, and Aether have been acting oddly, and he has no idea why.
Relationships: Dewdrop Ghoul | Fire Ghoul/Aether Ghoul | Quintessence Ghoul/Original Male Character(s)
Kudos: 5





	Rain On His Parade

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MaverickCheshire](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaverickCheshire/gifts).



> Another for Valentine's Bingo! This prompt was _Mutual Pining_.  
> This was written for my best bro ever, and I hope he enjoys it! ; w;

It was unnerving to be told to train his replacement.   
  
Knowing that he’d eventually be demoted and told to let someone else take the reins ... it scared the hell out of Rain. He couldn’t even imagine doing anything else with his life; he was living the absolute dream. If he was doing a good job, why would he be told to do something else? Why would he be replaced at all?   
  
Sister Imperator, once she was told of Rain’s concerns, quickly set him straight. She told Rain that Ocean was more of an understudy right now in case something happened to him. While that was incredibly fair, knowing there was a timetable ... well. He didn’t want to think about it. He would have to trust Sister’s words.   
  
Rain had sized up his competition immediately upon their first meeting. Immature? Perhaps. But it would be good for the both of them in the end if he knew who he was working with.   
  
Ocean had a similar body frame to Rain’s, but had a much longer tail that Rain envied. He had bright blue eyes, longer horns, and light gray skin. For some reason, he had gotten his left ear pierced, but that wasn’t his place to care. Sister had said he’d have humans swooning over him, and Rain was inclined to agree for multiple reasons.   
  
One, Ocean was a natural at the bass. When he was being taught scales or techniques, he picked up on them extraordinarily quickly. It was incredible to watch him get better and better over the weeks -- with every fumble he made, he came back stronger. Every time he missed something, he made sure he didn’t do so twice.   
  
Two, he was passionate. That came through with the bass, sure. But there were also many times that Ocean gushed about the seas on Earth, how adorable the animals were, and how he wished he could see them in real life. There were times he had to guide him away from the topic, which got a little exasperating when a tour lineup was coming. Still, it was plain adorable; Rain couldn’t dance around that fact.   
  
Three, Ocean was just ... nice. There was no other word for it. He was nice, friendly, amicable, whichever word was preferred at the time. He always showed up ready to go, despite his nervousness, and never had a bad word to say to any of the band ghouls. Mountain chalked it up to the poor fellow being intimidated -- Rain just thought it was good manners.   
  
But he was starting to think that they were both wrong.   
  
Ocean had always been super intimidated by Dewdrop, but that was normal. He had a rather explosive personality that left people a little nervous at first. Thing is, that usually went away after a month or so of constant exposure. It didn’t for Ocean. In fact, he only appeared to get more nervous. He stammered more, he blushed, he hung around when he wasn’t supposed to and kept his distance otherwise ...   
  
And once Rain had thought about it, the same happened around Aether.   
  
Aether was a big teddy bear, to put it bluntly. Rain hadn’t ever understood why Ocean was acting similarly: Never meeting his eyes, always acting bashful, and being alternatively close and distant. Sure, he was bulky, but he was hardly scary. Maybe it was because Ocean was so tiny compared to him, Rain thought.   
  
What was even stranger was that Aether and Dewdrop were acting weird around Ocean, too.   
  
Dewdrop amped up his teasing a bit, but immediately wound it back. He never did that. And Aether was oddly ... confident? Rain wasn’t sure how to describe it, but it was definitely strange to see Aether pretending to be at ease with Ocean. Rain could tell he was pretending with how trembly his hands were.   
  
It didn’t make sense to Rain for a long time. He would never admit it, but it kept him up a few times at night. He tossed and turned, absolutely and utterly perplexed by these weird, weird events. What was going on with those three? Why were they acting so strange around each other?   
  
The answer came to him one night after practice when Dewdrop nervously approached Rain. That in of itself was a surprise; Dewdrop was never nervous about anything. Hearing him stutter and stammer and tripping over his own words? Rain almost wanted to record it. No one would believe him otherwise.   
  
“Hey, uh, Rain?” Dewdrop mumbled. “Can I ... uh ... can I get your advice?”   
  
“Sure. Have to be quick, though. I have a training session with Ocean tomorrow,” Rain said, secretly petrified that this was a setup for a prank. “What is it?”   
  
“Look, it’s just, uh ...” Dewdrop adjusted the collar of his shirt, then glanced over at Ocean. Then, realizing he wasn’t being subtle, he looked away and back to Rain. “... yeah.”   
  
“... That’s not really specific,” Rain said, raising an eyebrow. “Try again.”   
  
Dewdrop lowered his voice to a nearly-incomprehensible whisper. It made Rain wonder why he couldn’t just wait until they were in private. “Look, it’s ... I’ve been with Aether so long that I forgot what a new crush is like. Don’t get me wrong, I get butterflies with Aether, bouncing around in my stomach and all. But now it’s like it’s they’re trying to explode.”   
  
... Huh. Well, that was definitely a twist on the human saying.   
  
“That so?” Rain prodded. “Why?”   
  
“I ... I think I have a new crush,” Dewdrop admitted. “And Aether does too. We’ve talked about it. But neither of us know what to do about it. He’s so shy that I feel like he’ll freeze up if we ask, and ...”   
  
Oh. Oh Lucifer. He was clearly talking about Ocean. The realization hit Rain like a hellstorm right to the face. It left him reeling to the point where he missed a bit of what Dewdrop was saying. He snapped back to attention.   
  
“... he’s just ... really cute. I mean, he doesn’t laugh often, but when he does, it’s really adorable? I mean, shit, I think about it and smile. And then there’s Aether’s reaction to it. It makes him laugh too, which makes it even better, and ...”   
  
Dewdrop? Gushing? Who was this ghoul and what had he done with Dewdrop? Rain stared, befuddled, unsure of how to respond.   
  
“... what do you think?” Dewdrop asked.   
  
Rain forced himself to get back into the game. He tapped the tip of his chin, humming thoughtfully. Dewdrop wasn’t wrong; something told Rain that Ocean would absolutely freeze up if confronted with this. But maybe that wasn’t a bad thing? Maybe if he was caught off-guard, he’d stammer out an honest answer and solve it either way.   
  
... No, that would be awkward too. Hmm.   
  
“Well, I think that you guys should play it by ear right now.” Rain sounded more confident in this answer than he felt, but Dewdrop didn’t have to know that. “It took you and Aether a while, right? So it might be best to take this slow too.”   
  
“I hate it when you’re right,” Dewdrop muttered angrily. “I’m not patient.”   
  
“Trust me. I know.” It took everything Rain had to keep that neutral and not snarky. Somehow, though, he managed to succeed. “But it’s the best idea in this case.”   
  
“Yeah. Guess so.” Dewdrop pouted, clearly unhappy, but clapped Rain on the shoulder anyway. “Thanks, Rain.”   
  
“Just curious, though. Why ask me?”   
  
“Fuck, if I tried to ask Cirrus or Cumulus they’d probably set us up or something, and Mountain doesn’t know shit about crushes.” Dewdrop rolled his eyes. “You seemed like the best option.”   
  
“... Thanks? I think?”   
  
Dewdrop grinned his trademark toothy grin, then bounded over to Aether to put things away.   
  
Rain wasn’t sure if what Dewdrop had said was an insult or a compliment; it left him confused even as he packed up his bass. He was still thinking about it as he brushed his fangs, and as he tucked himself into bed. It was going to be another one of those nights where he was up tossing and turning trying to figure out what the hell was going on.   
  
This probably meant he’d be a little snappier during his lesson tomorrow, which was never a good thing. Ocean flinched if someone raised his voice at him or sounded irritated. But Rain knew how to rein it in when needed, so hopefully it would be fine.   
  
Eventually, Rain drifted off to an uneasy sleep, _still_ wondering if Dewdrop had made fun of him or not.

* * *

Morning always came too soon, and today was no exception. Rain almost smashed his alarm clock out of irritation when it started to blare, but managed to not do so. It was still a process to get his outfit on, and it took a near unfathomable amount of effort to drag himself towards the practice chambers.   
  
If only the kitchen was up and running; he’d grab a gallon of coffee and just chug it right out of the gate. Unfortunately, the best Rain could do was nab one of Dewdrop’s energy drinks from the fridge and chug that instead. It marginally helped; at least he wouldn’t growl at anyone that looked at him now.   
  
He made his way to the practice space and opened the door. Much to his shock, Ocean was already there, strumming away at the bass, looking like death. His eyes had dark circles under them, and every strum of the bass sounded slower, less on point.   
  
“Did you get any sleep at all?”   
  
Maybe not the best way to open the day; what a shame he realized that just a bit too late. Ocean almost looked ashamed as he shook his head. Rain wanted to stick his head into the toilet because of that.   
  
“Um, no.” He slouched somewhat, letting the bass slip just a bit. “I couldn’t sleep.”   
  
“That makes two of us.” Rain walked in, crushed the empty energy drink can, and pulled up a chair. The screeching sound it made as it slid across the floor made him want to kill something, but at least it woke both of them up. “What’s on your mind?”   
  
“Nothing,” Ocean mumbled.   
  
Rain gave him a look. A withering look, one that would send anyone into the floor out of shame. It had the desired effect; Ocean looked embarrassed, and immediately revised his answer.   
  
“... It’s dumb.” Ocean scratched behind his ears. “I don’t want to bother you with it.”   
  
“If it’s gonna affect your playing, it’s my responsibility,” Rain said sternly. “So talk to me.”   
  
Ocean hesitated, opting to strum another chord on the bass instead of opening up. Rain almost smacked the bass out of his hands, but just waited patiently instead.   
  
“So ... I think I like a band member? Two, actually,” Ocean eventually said. His cheeks darkened to a charcoal gray, tinted with blue. “I just need advice on getting over it.”   
  
Wait. Getting over it? What? Rain’s jaw nearly dropped for more than one reason, but that definitely didn’t help.   
  
“Why getting over it?” he asked, befuddled. Maybe that wasn’t the best response either, but Rain wasn’t going to kick himself for this one. “I thought you were about to ask me on what to do to get together.”   
  
“That would be nice, but I don’t think I deserve it.” Ocean laughed sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. “I mean, they’re experienced, I’m new, and it just doesn’t feel realistic. I don’t want to get my hopes up, you know? Besides, they’re together already.”   
  
All right, it was either Cirrus and Cumulus or Dew and Aether. Rain had no idea which pair it was, but judging on prior behavior, he could take a wild guess. But jumping down Ocean’s throat would definitely be a bad move, so he just waited patiently.   
  
“Mind if I ask who?”   
  
“Promise you won’t make fun of me for it?”   
  
Rain raised a hand and put it over his heart. “From one water ghoul to another, I promise I won’t make fun of you.”   
  
Ocean took a while to answer again. Presumably, he was working up the courage to just spit it out. Rain still had the urge to smack the bass away from him, since he was using it to fiddle and stall, but the urge was muted this time. This whole thing would take time, and Rain prided himself on having more patience than Dewdrop.   
  
“... It’s Dewdrop and Aether,” Ocean eventually said.   
  
Rain wasn’t even surprised, but he had to fake it. He tilted his head, swished his tail, and did everything he could to convey shock. It didn’t work, and he knew it.   
  
“All right, I understand. You work with them a lot.” Rain leaned back against his chair and crossed one leg over the other. “So what’s with you thinking you can’t tell them how you feel?”   
  
“I don’t know, I just don’t think it’ll happen. I mean, they’re together already.”   
  
“They’re pretty open,” Rain responded as casually as he could manage. “It can’t hurt to ask.”   
  
“But I don’t deserve them,” Ocean said sadly. His tail drooped along with his shoulders. “They’re so talented and funny, and ... I’m not. Not really.”   
  
“... You? Not talented?” Rain’s voice cracked in sheer irritation. “You’re kidding, right?”   
  
“Wh --”   
  
Rain wanted to stop himself, he really did, but something about Ocean beating up on himself made him crack. With the weird mutual pining between them all, Dewdrop asking for advice, and now Ocean insulting himself when everyone was acting stupid?   
  
No. No more. Rain was going to nip this in the bud right now, and he wasn’t going to let Ocean start this again.   
  
“You’ve picked up the bass so fast that you’re three months ahead of where I thought we’d be,” Rain said pointedly. “You’re absolutely talented, and you’re likable. I won’t sit here and let you insult yourself when you really, really are better than that.”   
  
“But --”   
  
Rain cut in immediately. “No buts. You’re talented, and people like you. Okay? Repeat that after me; this is a lesson, so you have to.”   
  
“Um --”   
  
“Repeat after me, Ocean: ‘I’m talented, and people like me.’ Do it.”   
  
Ocean fidgeted in his seat, utterly mortified. Being commanded by a higher-ranking ghoul to do something, though, made it so he had to do what he was asked. “I’m talented, and people like me.”   
  
“Good. Now repeat that every night before you go to bed.”   
  
Rain uncrossed his legs, then leaned forward, steepling his hands together. He stared at Ocean, eyes narrowed, blue eyes blazing. Ocean couldn’t even look away, the poor guy was so terrified. But Rain couldn’t stop himself.   
  
“I’ve had to put up with you and Dewdrop and Aether acting absolutely ridiculous for the past few months. I’m not going to sit here and let this drag out. Just talk to them, for Baphomet’s sake. Talk to them, and lay it out.”   
  
“But what if they reject --”   
  
“They won’t.” Rain briefly debated on whether what he would say next would cross the line, but he promptly decided that he really, really didn’t care. Dewdrop would thank him later for it, anyway. “Dewdrop told me that he and Aether liked you.”   
  
Ocean’s cheeks turned a dark gray. His eyes were wide as saucers, and Rain could see him trying to form words. Eventually, it worked. A true infernal miracle.   
  
“H-He what?”   
  
“Yeah. Dewdrop and Aether like you.” Rain nodded firmly. “So, don't beat around the bush, but leave me out of it. Lessons are canceled.”   
  
“Wh --”   
  
“I said lessons are canceled. Your assignment for today is to go to Dewdrop, and tell him you like him.” Rain sounded exasperated, he knew, but he was beyond caring at this point. “Because if I have to sit around and listen to this awkwardness anymore, I am going to explode.”   
  
Rain stood up and began to walk out of the room, utterly indifferent to Ocean’s baffled stammering. He was going to go to the kitchen, steal some fruit out of the fridge, then go to his room and angrily eat all of it. It was hardly a good breakfast, but it would do in his irritated state.   
  
The next time practice happened, Ocean, Aether, and Dewdrop better be together and be shy and giggly for different reasons than before. Because if they weren’t, Rain would push them together himself. And he _never_ did that.   
  
So much for being more patient than Dewdrop.


End file.
